Mechanism for lowering and raising clockwork parts into and out of a working vat

ABSTRACT

A machine for cleaning and rinsing clockwork parts wherein the support carrying said parts assumes a relative vertical and angular movement with reference to the vats to be used in succession. The relative vertical movement is controlled by a rotary crank raising and sinking a pivoting lever during each of its revolutions so as to make a member reciprocate vertically to produce the desired relative movement, the angular movement of the crank producing the vertical movement, corresponding to the removal of the parts out of a vat and to their draining being longer than the opposite movement returning the parts into the next vat whereby a longer draining time is allowed.

United States Patent 1 Pans [ Oct. 30, 1973 [76] Inventor: Amedee Pons,21 Ave. Chamier Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne, France [22] Filed: May 24,1972 [21] Appl. No.: 256,615

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 87,729,- Nov.9, 1970,

FOREIGN PATENTS OR. APPLlCATlONS 512,603 11/1930 Germany ..74/53 746,9549/1944 Germany 134/77 Primary Examiner-Daniel Blum Att0meylrvin S.Thompson et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A machine for cleaning and rinsing clockwork parts whereinthe support carrying said parts assumes a relative vertical and angularmovement with reference to the vats to be used in succession. Therelative vertical movement is controlled by a rotary crank raising andsinking a pivoting lever during each of its revolutions so as to make amember reciprocate vertically to produce the desired relative movement,the angular movement of the crank producing the vertical movement,corresponding to the removal of the parts out of a vat and to theirdraining being longer than the opposite movement returning the partsinto the next vat whereby a longer draining time is allowed.

1 Claim, 1 Drawing Figure PATENIEDnmao ma 3. 768320 INV EN TOR24/145054? Pan/s BY 1 JW ATTORNEYS MECHANISM FOR LOWERING AND RAISINGCLOCKWORK PARTS INTO AND OUT OF A WORKING VAT This is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 87,729, filed Nov. 9, 1970, now abandoned.

My invention has for its object the provision of a machine forautomatically cleaning clockwork partsby means of a machine including amotor connected through a suitable known mechanism with the supportcarrying such parts so as tostir the latter within washing and rinsingvats carried by the frame of the machine while a rotary drainingmovement in the presence of the atmosphere is applied to said partsbetween two successive baths. According to my invention, the timeinterval of a constant duration separating two successive stirringoperations is subdivided into two periods of an unequal duration alonger period during which the parts undergoing treatment are drawn outof the vats and a shorter period corresponding to the followingimmersion in the next bath, the first of said periods servingsimultaneously for the draining of the parts.

The single FIGURE of the accompanying drawing illustratesdiagrammatically an embodiment of my invention to be disclosedhereinafter by way of example.

As illustrated, the shaft 1 of the auxiliary motor 2 carries at its enda crank 3 constitutedin the present example by a triangular plate. Tosaid crank 3 there is secured at 5 a roller bearing 4. A lever 6pivotally secured at 7 to the frame of the machine, which is notillustrated, rests through its outline 8 on the outer surface of theroller bearing 4 carried by the crank 3. Said lever 6 forms at its freeend 9 a fork 10 adapted to raise the hollow cylinder 11 sliding along aguideway 12 and extending through circular guiding means 13. The uppersection of the cylinder 11 carried the mechanism of the machine which isnot illustrated but which may be as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,447,351 or2,979,063, to which reference is had for a fuller desc ription of thisto which reference is had for a fuller description of this portion ofthe apparatus.

The operation of the arrangement is as follows:

At the start, the cylinder 1 1 lies in 'its lowermost position togetherwith the support not illustrated, of the clockwork parts which have justbeen stirred within the vat carrying a washing liquid. The cylinder 11is held in said position by the fork 10 terminating the lever 6. Thelatter rests on the other hand through its edge 8 on the roller bearing4 carried by the crank 3. The auxiliary motor 2 being started, theroller bearing 4 is carried along clockwise by the crank 3 and executesa complete revolution round the axis of the shaft 1 at a uniform speed.The durationof one revolution round said axis should correspond to theduration of a complete rising and sinking cycle of the cylinder 1 1, theextreme positions of the latter being drawn in dotted lines and providedwith the index a for the upper position of the cylinder ll and with theindex b for its lower position. a

In order to ascertain the extreme uppermost and lowermost positions ofthe lever 6, I draw two geometrical circles 14 and 15 defining the pathto be described by the roller bearing 4 round the axis of the shaft 1 ofthe auxiliary motor. It will be readily understood from inspection ofthe drawing that a line passing through the pivot 7 and tangentiallycontacting the upper part of the outer circle 14 defines the uppermostposition of the lever 6 while the corresponding line tangentiallycontacting the lower part of the inner circle 15 defines its lowermostposition.

Obviously, the length of the path followed by the cylinder 11 as itrises depends on the length of the lever 6, on the length of the crank 3and on the ratio between the total length of the lever and the distancebetween the point on the edge 8 of the lever 6 engaging the rollerbearing 4 and the pivot 7 of said lever for the extreme positions of thelatter.

The preceding disclosure shows furthermore that the arc defined by thecrank 3 during the sinking of the cylinder 11 under the action of thelever 6 is shorter than that followed by the crank 3 while it raisessaid cylinder. Obviously also, the difference between the rising andsinking periods is reduced when the pivot 7 is spaced by a longerdistance from the axis of the shaft 1 of the motor 2.

It is apparent that a change in the direction of rotation of the motor 2leads to a reversal of the succession of the periods so that a slowsinking is obtained after a high speed rise. Such a modification lieswithin the scope of my invention as defined by the accompanying claim.

The speed or rotation of the shaft 1 is uniform in its principle and thetravel of the roller bearing 4 remains always the same for the samelapse of time. It is therefore an easy matter to define the accurateangular position of the roller bearing with reference to the shaft 1 atany moment.

On the other hand, the position of the lever 6 is defined by the heightof the rising or sinking movements to be obtained at selected momentssince the cylinder 11 .rests throughout its travel on the forked end 10of the lever 6.

The succession of the different positions of the lever 6 and of theroller bear-ing 4 at corresponding moments allows through calculation orby means of a simple diagram the curve to be drawn which determines theoutline of the lever 6 Obviously, the path along which the rollerbearing 4 is to move is l'ocated in the example considered along theedge of the lever 6, but it may lie along any other section of thelever, whether projecting or recessed.

It will thus be seen that the motor 2 drives the shaft 1 for rotationclockwise as seen in the drawing, and that during the rising movement oflever 6, the roller bearing 4 will traverse a downwardly convex portionof edge 8; while during the fall of the lever, the roller bearing 4 willtraverse a downwardly concave portion of edge 8. The result is that,along the convex portion during rising movement, the upper portion ofthe movement of lever 6 is relatively prolonged and so the time theclockwork parts are out of the washing vat and hence draining, will becorrespondingly prolonged; while when the concave portion of edge 8 isbeing traversed during the fall of lever ever 6, the lower protion ofthe descent of the lever will be relatively retarded.

What I claim is:

1. A mechanism for'raising and lowering clockwork parts into and out ofa washing vat, comprising a vertically shiftable member for carryingsaid parts, and means for shifting said member vertically comprising amotor, a horizontal shaft driven in rotation by the motor, a crank fixedto said shaft, a roller on the outer end of said crank, a lever havingone end engaging said member to shift said member vertically, meanspivotally mounting the other end of the lever for vertical roller duringthe rise of the lever being convex thereby to prolong the time duringwhich the lever occupies a raised position and hence to prolong the timethe clockwork parts are out of the washing vat, the portion of saidunderside of said lever which contacts said roller during the fall ofthe lever being concave thereby to retard the lower portion of thedescent of the lever.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,768,320 Dated October 30. 1973 r I I Amcdee Pons It is certified thaterror appears in the above-identifiedl patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Date February 13 1970 France 7005339Signed and sealed this 23rd day of April 197E.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD TLFLETCHEHJH. 0. IMLISHALL DANN Attesting Officer CommissionerofPatents

1. A mechanism for raising and lowering clockwork parts into and out ofa washing vat, comprising a vertically shiftable member for carryingsaid parts, and means for shifting said member vertically comprising amotor, a horizontal shaft driven in rotation by the motor, a crank fixedto said shaft, a roller on the outer end of said crank, a lever havingone end engaging said member To shift said member vertically, meanspivotally mounting the other end of the lever for vertical swingingmovement of the lever about a horizontal axis, said ends of said leverlying on opposite sides of the vertical plane in which said shaft lies,the underside of said lever resting on said roller, said motor turningsaid shaft in a direction such that said lever rises during more than180* of the rotation of said shaft and falls during less than 180* ofthe rotation of said shaft, the portion of said underside of said leverwhich contacts said roller during the rise of the lever being convexthereby to prolong the time during which the lever occupies a raisedposition and hence to prolong the time the clockwork parts are out ofthe washing vat, the portion of said underside of said lever whichcontacts said roller during the fall of the lever being concave therebyto retard the lower portion of the descent of the lever.